Restaurants and fast food establishments generate substantial daily quantities of unsold or unused food materials, which can be in the form of meat products, dairy products, vegetables, bread, condiments, and the like. For example, a fast food establishment will precook certain foods, such as hamburgers, and the like, and if the products are not sold within a specified time period, the food products are scrapped. It has been found that a typical fast food establishment can generate up to 100 lbs. of unsold prepared food a day, which is discarded with other food scraps. This results in a substantial economic loss to the establishment, and as the unsold prepared food contains a substantial percentage of moisture, it has a high volume, and adds considerably to the landfill charges for waste disposal.
Attempts have been made in the past to convert the unsold, prepared food materials into commercial products, such as animal feed. However, due to the high moisture content of the material, these attempts have not been successful. Further, it has been found that certain ingredients in the prepared waste food, such as cheese, are extremely difficult to process to an acceptable end product.